Bloomberg meets with Perot's ballot access expert

While still insisting he is not running for president, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg signaled his seriousness about a possible independent campaign by meeting with the ballot access expert and campaign manager for H. Ross Perot's third-party presidential bid.

Bloomberg's latest trip outside the city -- one of a today in California. He was to appear in Los Angeles with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at an event concerning infrastructure.

Bloomberg met privately Friday with Clay Mulford, who is well-versed in third-party ballot access and served as campaign manager for Perot, according to an individual close to the mayor. Perot sought the presidency in 1992 and 1996.

The meeting with Mulford came less than two months before Bloomberg would be able to start gathering signatures to get on the ballot and meet Texas' early deadline.

If Bloomberg wants a chance at winning the state's large slice of electoral votes -- 34 -- he would need to collect about 74,100 signatures by May 12, and he could not begin circulating petitions in Texas until March 5. Not only does he have a short window to petition -- the signatures need to be from Texas residents who did not vote in a party primary.

Earlier Friday, during a news conference, Bloomberg was asked about the significance of being in Texas, with its early ballot deadline. He seemed irritated with the question, having denied being in the race only a moment earlier.

"I just said I'm not a candidate -- it couldn't be clearer," he said. "Which of the words do you not understand? People have urged me to do it, but I'm not a candidate."

Despite his public denials, Bloomberg has been consulting with people such as Mulford and is conducting a sophisticated analysis of voter data in all 50 states to better understand his chances as a third-party candidate. Aides have said he would delay a decision until after the major parties produce clear front-runners.